Engine.



1.0.ALMEN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1916.

WITNESSES:

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

IN l/E/V TOR Mada/ Q 44/1226 J. O. ALMEN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.23,19I6.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 l/VVE/VTOR Jon 717 0- 1440776 WITNESSES:

@- (3) fiuv km) ATTOR/VE J. 0. ALMEN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1916.

1,%5,9?3. Patented Feb.12,1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

ATTORNEY J. O. ALMEN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.23, 1916.

1,255,973' Patented. Feb.12,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

W/T/VESSES: Y nws/vro/e a R) e QM Mafia QA/men A fro /v5? rarn'r ora ion.

JOHN O. ALMEN, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO ALMEN-GROSBY MOTORS 00., INC., OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented rap. is, rare.

Application filed February 23, 1916. Serial No. 79,877.

- an elastic fluid is utilized as the power agent. 10

The object of the present invention is to produce an engine of light weight and compact construction which will be eificient in operation and economical in the consumption of the power medium.

I accomplish these ends by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of an engine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section through 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end view of the rocker-head shown detached. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the axis of one of the cylinders to show the preferred form of piston construction, and the manner of packing the same to accommodate the osclllatory movements therefor. Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the engine valve with the ignition devices shown somewhat diagrammatically. Fig. 6 is an end elevational view of the adjustable electrical circuit terminal holder. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of portions of the gears whereby rotary motion is imparted to the valve from the nonrotary rocker-head.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates the engine casing provided with concentrically arranged inner and outer peripheral walls 11 and 12 and end walls 13 and 14 connecting the sametogether.

Provided in the space 15 between said peripheral walls and integral with the casing, is a plurality of symmetrically arranged tubular chambers a, Z), 0, etc., hereinafter designated as the cylinders.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention eleven of these cylinders are shown, the bore for each extending through the casing wall 13 and has a port 16 extending through the casing wall 11.

Secured to one end of said casing, as by 23 to afford communication with a'screwthreaded socket 24 at one end and a peripheral opening 25 in the hub. Said hub 1s provided with a bearing 26 for a drive shaft 27 which extends through a journal bearing 28 provided in the casing cover 18. Bushings 29 are, as shown, preferably provided for the respective bearings.

30 indicates a carbureter engaging in the head socket 24 and is supplied through a feed pipe 30 with an explosive medium from any suitable source.

Rotatable within the space between said hub and the casing wall 11 is an annular valve 31 which, in the present example where eleven cylinders are employed, is provided with five pairs of ports 32 and 33 arranged substantially as shown in Fig. 2. The ports 32 serve as intake ports with respect to the cylinders and the others, 33, are the exhaust ports.

As illustrated, these exhaust ports open into the atmosphere through radially disposed passages 34 and openings, such as 35, Fig. 1, provided therefor in the head 19. The passages 34 are arranged to expose a relatively small surface to the heat of the .exhaust gases; their inner walls protrude into the valve chamber wherein circulates or flows the relatively cold gases constituting the explosive charges for the engine.

These cool gases moreover contact with nearly'the entire inner surfaces of the walls of the valve and accordingly minimize expansion and contraction due to variations in temperature of the valve and enable the valve to be operated without any undue tightness or looseness. Fixedly secured to the shaft 27 is a sleeve 36 having a cylindrical portion 37 with its axis arranged at an angle from the shaft axis.

Mounted upon the sleeve part 37 between a shoulder 38 and a lock-nut 39 screwed on the threaded end of the sleeve is the boss 40 of a member hereinafter designated as the tons 44 of the respective cylinders.

Concentric to the axis of the rocker-head, the latter is provided with a gear 45 engageable with a similar gear 46 provided on the end of the casing wall 11. The function of these gears is to obviate any rotary motion occurring to the rocker-head during the wabbling movement of the same when effected through the agency of the reciproeating piston stems 43 from power generated in the cylinders.

Being thus prevented from rotating, the referred to wabbling movement of the rocker-head will act through the instrumentality of the inclined sleeve part 37 to propel the shaft. The rocker-head is also provided with a second series of gear teeth 47 adapted to engage the gear teeth 48 pro vided on the valve extension 49 to transmit rotary motion to the valve. 1

To accommodate the ports, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the valve rotates at one-tenth the speed but in a contrary direction to that of the shaft 27 and to such ends the number of teeth 47 of the rocker-head relative toithose on the valve should be in the proportion of eleven to ten.

The conjoint action of the referred to teeth of the rocker head and those of the valve will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 7 in which the rocker-head is assumed to be movin in the direction of arrow w to cause the uxtaposing surfaces 3/ of the teeth 47 and 48 to exercise a thrust upon the valve-to impart a limited rotary motion to the valve in the directionindicated by arrow w.

To prevent leakage packin rings 50 are desirably provided in the va ve above and below its ports and packing strips, such as 51 and 51 are also disposed between the ports.

The ignition devices shown in Figs. 1 and 5 include a ring 52 of insulating material secured to the valve to rotate therewith and carrying a metal band 53 from which extend, in this instance, five contacts such as 54.

Each of the cylinders is provided with a sparking plug 55 receiving, on occasion, a high tension current through a number of circuits 56 when the same are successively completed through the agency of brushes 57 and 58 and are electrically connected by conductors 53 and 54.

The primary circuit 59 is provided with i a relatively stationary terminal 60 and a movable terminal 61 which is comlected by an arm 62 to an oscillatory block 63 which is influenced by a spring 64 to normally maintain the terminal 61 out of contact with the other terminal. Said block also carries a supplementary arm 65 formed substantially as shown in ig. 5 and is provided with a protuberance 66 adapted to be intermittently afiected to complete the primary circuit by a series of projections 67 provided on the end of the ring 52.

With a motor having eleven cylinders, as in the illustrated embodiment oi. my invention, and where they are designed to be operated as four cycle units, there are fifty-five projections 67 to make and break the circuit a llke number of times in each rotation of the valve; and, subject to the ofiice of the five aforesaid conductors 54, render each sparking plug operative in the successive rotations of the shaft.

Provision is made to advance or retard the action of the ignition devices by mounting the circuit terminals 60 and 61 on a movable support in the nature of a bracket 68 which is adjustably secured to the casing closure 19 by screws 69 passing through slots 70 provided in the bracket. One of said screws serves as a pivot for an eccentric 71 disposed between a ledge 72 and a lug 73 of the bracket, said eccentric being adapted when turned after loosening the screws 69, to bear against the ledge or the lug to regulate the position of the bracket circumferentially of the motor.

During their reciprocations, the pistons 44 are subjected to slight oscillatory movements and to compensate for which and provide non-leakable fits within the cylinder bores, each of the pistons is preferably machined to have its peripheral surface 44 (Fig. 4) curved in an axial direction, and the packin 'rings' 75 similarly treated.-

rovision is made to prevent the cylinders becoming unduly hot by utilizin the space 15 within the casing for a coo ing agent,

such as water or air, which is admitted and discharged through pipe connections 76 as shown in Fig. 1.

77 represents a portion of an oil-spraying device provided in the,end 18 for lubricating the rocker-head, cylinders, etc.

In the multi-cylinder four-cycle motor illustrated, the order in which the charges are fired in the various cylinders, is as fol-' and the charges in g, i and 7c are being fired. The combusted charges are being exhausted from cylinders 0 and 6 during the instrokes of the pistons thereof. The ports of the cylinders h and j register with intake ports of the valve to accommodate the suction strokes of the respective pistons. The pistons for cylinders, b, d and f are acting to compress the charges preparatory to the explosion of the same.

In every rotation of the valve, five charges of an explosive mixture are sucked in, compressed, exploded, and the combustion products exhausted in each of the eleven cylinders, but as the valve rotates at one-tenth the speed of the shaft, each of the above functions is performed in the engine fiftyfive times to each rotation of the valve.

The high tension current for the ignition derived through the oflice of a transformer 80 from the primary circuit 59, is distributed among the proper-spark plugs 55 through the oilice of the brush 57 on the conducting band 53 to one of the eleven brushes, such as 58, when brought into contact with one of the five conductors 5 At the time that the primary current is interrupted by the separation of contacts 60 and 61, one of the referred to brushes 58 is in contact with a conductor 54 and in consequence a spark caused b. such a break is delivered to associated fir1ng plug.

While I have described and illustrated an embodiment of my invention in its preferred form, it is apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention; for example, instead of driving the shaft, the cylinders, pistons, etc., may be caused to be revolubly driven by the power agent about a non-rotatable shaft to have the power transmitted through the medium of the casing instead of the shaft.

What I claim, is-

1. In an internal combustion engine, a plurality of cylinders, a rotary valve common to all of the cylinders and controlling the admission of an explosive mixture and the discharge of the combustion products derived therefrom, means to rotate said valve, a ring of insulating material secured to said valve and provided with a series of spaced projections at one of its ends, electric conductors provided on the periphery of said ring, a spark-plug for each cylinder, a normally incomplete high power circuit for each of said spark-plugs and provided with contacts whereby the circuits are intermittently completed through the agency of said conductors, a transformer associated with the aforesaid circuits, a primary circuit therefor, said primary circuit being provided with terminals, means to normally retain said contacts out of contact, and devices intransformer for said fluenced by the aforesaid projections to cause the gap between said terminals to be intermittently closed.

2. In an internal combustion engine, a plurality of cylinders, a rotary valve con trolling the admission of an explosive mixture and the discharge of the combustion products derived therefrom, means to rotate said valve, a ring of insulating material secured to said valve and provided with a series of spaced projections at one of its ends, electric conductors provided on the periphery of said ring, a spark-plug for each cylinder, a normally incomplete high power circuit for each of said spark plugs and provided with contacts whereby the circuits are intermittently completed through the agency of said conductors, a primary circuit, a circuits, said primary circuit being provided with terminals, means to normally retain said contacts out of contact with each other, devices influenced by the aforesaid projections to cause the gap between said terminals to be intermittently closed, and means to regulate the positions of said devices circumferentially of the band whereby the make-and-break of the current obtaining within said primary circuit may be advanced or retarded.

3. An engine including a plurality of cylinders arranged in circular relation, a rotar valve common to all said cylinders, inclu ing a gear wheel, pistons in said cylinders, a rocker-head mounted centrally of said cylinders and connected with each of said pistons, and a gear wheel connected with the rocker-head and arranged to mesh with said first mentioned gear wheel, said gear wheels having a different number of teeth whereby the operation of the rocker-head rotary motion is imparted to the first mentioned gear wheel and valve.

4. An engine of the class described, including a shaft, a plurality of cylinders disposed in circular relation about said shaft, a piston in each said cylinder, a rocker-head operatively mounted on the shaft and connected to said pistons, a rotatable valve controlling the ports of said cylinders, and cooperating means on said rocker head and valve whereby the shaft actuating movements of the rocker-head will rotate said valve.

5. An engine of the class described, including a shaft, a plurality of axially alined cylinders disposed in circular relation about said shaft, a piston in each cylinder, a rocker head connected to each piston and operatively mounted to drive said shaft, a rotary valve controlling the admission and exhaust of gases from said cylinders, and gears rigid with said valve and said rocker-head for rotating the valve.

6. An engine of the class described, in-

. cludin a shaft, a plurality of cylinders areffect the rotation of the valve in the actua- 10 range in circular relation about said shaft, tion of the rocker-head. means including a rocker-head for driving Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 11th the shaft from said cylinders, a rotary valve day of February, 1916. controlling admission and exhaust of gases to and from the cylinders, a gear rigidly JOHN ALMEN' connected with said valve and a ear rigidly Witnesses: connected with said rocker-hen the teeth PIERRE BARNES,

of said gears being different in number to E. Pm'nnson. 

